The present invention relates to the field of sleep monitoring in particular to the monitoring and evaluation of sleep states of a user.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a serious disorder caused by an obstruction of the upper airway during sleep, which affects around 20 million Americans. According to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research the vast majority of patients with sleep disorders currently remain undiagnosed.
Under normal circumstances an individual progresses through an orderly succession of sleep states and stages. The first cycle begins by going from wakefulness to Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep is followed by Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, and the two sleep states alternate throughout the night with an average period of about 90 minutes. A night of a normal human sleep usually consists of 4–6 NREM/REM sleep cycles.
To facilitate the diagnosis of sleep disorder, patients are monitored using polygraph recording of electroencephalograms (EEG), Electrocardiograms (ECG), electro-oculogram (EOG), and other data.
Very often sleep evaluation is not possible without the use of sedative drugs because the plurality of electrodes connected to the patient inflicts anxiety and restrains the patient from a normal sleeping pattern. In these cases the validity of results are downgraded significantly.
The equipment used for sleep monitoring is costly and normally requires trained professionals for analysis and interpretation. Sleep monitoring usually is provided in specialized facilities in a hospital environment.
The present invention enables true tele-medicine sleep monitoring applications. This is not currently practical since the current state of the art is confined to hospitals or acute care facilities.